The present invention relates to an ironing board in which the height of the table can be adjusted.
It relates more specifically to an ironing board comprising two intersecting legs pivoting about a common axis.
French patent application FR-A-2 479 294 sets out an ironing board comprising two intersecting legs supporting a table, the under part of which is provided with a series of notches designed to take a free upper end of one of the two legs. Certain heights of the table can be selected by placing the free upper end of the leg in a corresponding notch.
European patent application EP-A-646 671 discloses a similar ironing board.
With ironing boards having intersecting legs as described above, changing the height is an operation requiring the use of both hands. Also, the choice of the ideal height is limited to a finite number of positions. More specifically, the number of heights available depends on the number of notches.
French patent FR 1 248 806 sets out a board having intersecting legs and provided in its under part with an adjustable tie bar consisting of a rotary screw inside a tube, the tie bar being so arranged as to connect the lower ends of the legs.
It is true that this device offers the possibility of adjusting the height to an almost limitless number of positions. However, besides the fact that the tie bar is bulky, it is also an obstruction for a user wishing to place either or both feet under the board while ironing.
Also, the arrangement of the tie bar limits the range of adjustment of the height of the board. More precisely, the maximum height of the board is a function of the length of the tie bar.
It is a particular object of the present invention to overcome the abovementioned drawbacks. It relates to an ironing board comprising:
a table
a support for supporting the table and
a device for adjusting the height of the table,
the support comprising at least two intersecting legs pivoting about a common axis, the upper ends of the legs being made fast to the table, and at least one of the legs being moveable, its upper end being able to be moved in a plane parallel to that of the table, which board is characterized in that the device for adjusting the height comprises continuous height-adjusting means consisting of an jack composed of a first part and a second part, the first part of the jack being made fast to the moveable leg in the region defined between the upper end of the moveable leg and the common axis.
The term xe2x80x9ccontinuousxe2x80x9d should be understood as meaning xe2x80x9cwithout intervalsxe2x80x9d. The selection of available heights is therefore not limited to a finite number of positions.
The jack is preferably pneumatic. Its principle of operation can be likened to that of a pneumatic jack used to adjust the height of a chair.
It goes without saying that the continuous height-adjusting means used in the present invention, like a pneumatic jack, must allow not only an indefinite number of heights to be chosen, but also must allow the table to be locked at the corresponding heights.
By way of non-restrictive example of jacks that can be used for the present invention, mechanical or electrical jacks may be cited.
In one embodiment, the upper end of the second part of the jack is fixed to the support of the table.
In another embodiment, the upper end of the second part of the jack is fixed to the fixed leg. Furthermore, by fixing the first part of the jack into the upper part of the moveable leg, a locking mechanism is obtained which provides a certain closure of the board when the board is folded.
In another embodiment, the jack is part of and/or may coincide with the leg whose upper end can move freely in a plane parallel to that of the table.
The jack according to the invention can also act as an aid for opening the board.
To make the height-adjusting device more functional, the height-adjusting means are preferably controlled remotely.
In one particular embodiment of the invention, the height-adjusting means comprise a cable, of which the opposite end from the jack is accessible near the table, adjustment being effected by pulling the cable.
In one particularly advantageous embodiment, the end of the cable opposite from the jack is fixed to a rotary handle placed toward the table, the handle working on a principle similar to that of a motorcycle handle: rotating in one direction or the other pulls the cable and so actuates the jack.
Alternatively, the handle may be replaced by a lever which works in a similar way to a motor cycle brake.